Fantroll Drabbles
by We Are Royalty
Summary: AU fantroll drabbles with a various cast of characters.
1. Chapter 1

This was originally on my personal account, but my friend and I decided to move this here so we could both work on it. We definitely do not own Homestuck. Capice? Capice.

* * *

Death is a thing that never quite goes away.

You sit in a private room on your ship, the one that's taking you to wherever you're going. Whichever planet the Empress decided she needed you on, you would go to. You run your hands through your unnaturally long hair, wishing you'd had the guts to ask your friend for one last haircut before you left.

You are an adult troll. This is proven by the fact that your eyes are completely filled in with your blood colour, the land-dwelling purple that makes you a perfect fit for the role of Subjugglator. The role you hope to fill wonderfully.

"Excuse me." Your head snaps up – you would recognize that voice anywhere. It was your matesprit's voice. Was, before he died, shortly after you arrived at your first designated area. You miss him terribly. "Seveny Turann?" Unfortunately, it seems your mind is playing tricks on you this time, and it's simply one of the sparse crew of the ship.

This one is an olive blood: He smiles at you tremulously, reminding you of old friends. You had known an olive blood back on Alternia, but she had her own preoccupations now. You sigh and attempt to smile back, instead managing something like a frightening grimace.

"Yes?" you ask, standing up. That is probably a bad move, you think, as the olive blood's eyes widen and he takes a step back. You loom over everyone you know, but you hardly know anyone now.

"We, er, are about to land, sir," the olive blood stutters, and you nod, ducking your head to brush past him out into the hallway of the ship. "Where are you going?" he asks, and you hesitate for a second before answering.

"Someplace I can think," you say. You miss your matesprit, and the olive blood's fumbling demeanour reminds you of just how cute he could get whenever you confronted him even jokingly about anything. He was, perhaps, not the only person you could pity, but the only one you pitied to that extent.

You are nearly twenty sweeps old now. This is going to be your third designation. You have hundreds upon hundreds more sweeps to struggle through this existence. This is what you get for being one of the most long-lived trolls, while your matesprit was, perhaps, poorly chosen as one of the most short-lived. He was a butterfly compared to you.

You stride into the communal dining room. No one usually comes here: Community is for suckers. A lucky rustblood glances up at you, and you grit your teeth. It is their first designation, you would guess from how their eyes are still filling in. It infuriates you.

Many things infuriate you. Many of these things are also the wide differences between different trolls on the haemospectrum. The rustbloods, the highbloods, everyone – they are all too strange for you.

"Can I help you?" the rustblood asks, and you freeze. It is not her voice which clues you in; it is her tone. "Or should I just sit here and die quietly?"

"Tereah," you growl, looking back at her. Her blood is brown, the second-lowest, and this cannot be her first designation. You know this for a fact, because she is only three sweeps younger than you.

"Lilira," she corrects. "Do I... know you?" She stands and steps closer, apparently unafraid of your appearance. "After all, you seem to know me. What designation is this for you?"

"My third. And you know me," you reply, rolling your eyes. "You simply don't want to recognise me."

"So it's Seveny, then. You smile less." Lilira has always teased you about how lively you are. She is, somewhat oddly, obsessed with the concepts of death and killing, and she appears to believe life after death is much better for trolls than life itself.

"I know I do. Aslion is dead," you say shortly. She frowns and shrugs.

"And? Our lives are short," she says. It's almost like she doesn't care. "I've got a few more sweeps on me, though. We all knew he'd die quick."

You curl one of your hands into a fist and shake your head. "That's not the point," you mutter before changing the subject. "What are you here for, anyway?"

Lilira looks at you like you're crazy. Maybe you are. "A612 is a prison encampment, Turann. I'm being imprisoned, of course. They'd cull me, but I think I could get the best of them. So instead, they'll just lock me up until I die." She is inordinately cheery about this fact, and briefly you wonder when she became considerate about herself dying as well. Perhaps it's because she only has a few more sweeps left, as well.

It strikes you that most of your friends will be dead by your tenth designation. At least, it seems that way.

"So I've got to aid in presiding over an encampment where an old friend is imprisoned," you say, deadpan.

"Don't sound so dull about it! You're almost like Branet," she teases. You wince at the name; Tyrius Branet is not someone you need to remember right now.

"Hello, landing?" The olive-blooded crew member has followed you, and he waves a hand between the two of you. "It would be good if you hung onto something or went back to your rooms. Now. Especially you, Tereah." Lilira glances at the crew member with a smile on her face and shrugs.

You feel a gravitational pull start tugging at you, the one that's not simulated by the ship, and you almost stumble. The other two seem oblivious to it, but you have to sit at one of the tables in the dining room. It strikes you that the ship is rather empty, and the colours start to bleed together in front of your eyes. Nothing will happen to you, you try to convince yourself. Nothing...

You wake with a start to find you had fallen asleep outside of your recuperacoon. You are ten sweeps old. You will be sent off the planet in a week. Your name is Seveny Turann.

You stumble to your respiteblock and open your husktop. Your hands are shaking tremendously, and they fumble with the keys as you open your chat client and attempt to get a hold of your matesprit.

- definitivePyrotechnics [DP] started trolling insaneTormentor [IT] -

DP: Aslion? ;;))

DP: Asli, please tell me you're there. ;;))

IT: y-yeah? what is it, 7y? _i.T.

DP: Good. ;;))

- definitivePyrotechnics [DP] ceased trolling insaneTormentor [IT] -

You close your husktop, and your eyes. You try not to think about your dream. You don't think about how confused your matesprit must be after your short and especially cryptic messages just now. You'll tell him about your dream at a later point.

Maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

What the hell did you just get yourself into?

You sit there staring at you laptop for a few moments as you replay the last conversation in your mind. Ivelin was coming here? To see you? It was a dream come true! You are very fond of the one you love and you would hope that he was rather fond of you as well. Your friends often tell you two that you are 'to emotional' or 'sicking to watch' but you both usually ignored then and went back to your constant flirting. Judging by how long ago he sent his last post you had about half an hour left before he arrived. And god damn it you were going to use that time wisely.

Your name is Laylia Chirag and you had to get ready for your boyfriend's visit.

You quickly rush out of your room and scurry into your aunt's room next door where you raided her closet making sure not to rearrange too much. She was drunk all of the time anyways so it really didn't matter but just to be safe you only move what you had to. "Where is it. It has to be in here somewhere." You mumble quietly before letting out a joyful squeal as you pull out a small box. You hug the box to your chest as if your life depended on it before running back off to your room where you gently place the box on your bed on your way to the bathroom. Gosh you hated being a girl and having to be the one to impress the guy.

She quickly grabbed her toothbrush from off the counter before grabbing her open bottle of tooth paste and squeezing a fair amount onto the bristles. She shoved the toothbrush into her mouth and scrubbed for atleast five minutes when you were satisfied that they were as clean as they would ever be. You turn the sink on and throw you brush under the running water before spitting out the used toothpaste and smiling in the mirror. "Ugh. I'm filthy." She whispered quietly as she removed the fake dog ears from her head and set it on the counter along with the black ribbon that you had used to keep your floor length hair back.

You were always disgusted by your hair because it was impossible to brush. But for now you would ignore it on favor of the shower instead. You strip down to nothing as you step into the shower and turn the cold water on. You never did appreciate a hat shower. They always scalded your skin and left you looking red. She definitely did not want that for tonight. Tonight was going to be special. She just knew it!

You allowed the water a few seconds to run through your hair before grabbing your watermelon scented shampoo and pouring a lot of it into your free hand. You snap the lid shut with your chin before throwing it over your shoulder and 0began lathering in the strong scented soap. You hated it and you only used it because Ivelin thought the scent matched you. Whatever that meant. You were pulled out of your thoughts when some of the shampoo decided to drip down into your eyes. Great she had maybe fifteen minutes left and she had to sit here and fight with her hair. "This is not happening." She mumbled quietly as she reached over for the brush on the little soap shelf and began to drag it through her hair. She threw the brush over her shoulder mush like the shampoo when she was content that there were no more knots in her hair before grabbing a bar of soap and a pouf. As you finish soaping the pouf you set yourself to the grueling task of rubbing your skin raw/clean.

You turn off the water before opening the shower curtain and reaching for a towel which you were sure was right there. When your hand passes over the soft fabric you yank it from where it rested on the towel rack and rub your eyes with it before setting to the 'wonderful' task of drying your hair. You usually let it dry by itself usually but you just don't have the time today. Throwing aside the towel when when you finish drying your hair you walk out of the bathroom and over to the box on your bed.

You stare at the box for a second before lifting the lid and setting it aside. You looked inside at the article of 'clothing' your mother had given you the day before she had died. You felt guilty that you would be using her honeymoon outfit before your own honeymoon but you knew that she would understand. She was an amazing woman like that. You just wish that she hadn't of died before she could meet the one you hope to spend the rest of your pathetic life with. Even if you didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Ivelin.

Pulling the little white dress out of its box along with the garter you blush like crazy. You had never thought that you would ever need to take the outfit out of its box and now here you were using for the first damn time you would ever have sex with your boyfriend. You undo the zipper on the side before throwing the strapless dress over yourself while struggling to get it over your bust and slipping the garter up to you mid-thigh. It was then that you realized that you were missing you dog ear headband but you wouldn't be needing it tonight so it would just stay on the counter where you left it. Only seconds after you finished zipping yourself back up and pulling your hair back with a white ribbon that you found in the box someone comes in through your open bedroom window.

"I'm here my fair maiden and I am very curious to see what this sur… Woa." You watch as he looks you over and almost laugh at the red that tinted his cheeks but instead you force yourself to calm your beating heart.

"Surprise." You say quietly snapping him out of his shocked state. He gives that goofy smile that he uses whenever he is caught in an act. You just smile back at him nervously when he beacons you over to him. Your heart is beating like crazy but you do as he wants because you truly love this man and would do anything for him knowing that he would do the same for you.

He pulls you into his arms where he holds onto you in the small room. "Laylia dear. What is the meaning of this?" He asks quietly while you just blush and refuse to look up at him until he tilts your head up forcing you to look into his beautiful violet eyes.

"I… I just wanted tonight to be amazing." You say your voice barely a whisper. He just leans down to kiss capture your lips in a kiss that you are more than willing to give him.

The sound of the front door slamming and the sound of two voices brings you both to reality. "Ignore it. It's probably my aunt bringing home one of her many boyfriends." You whisper before taking his hand and leading him over to the bed where you get him to sit down and crawl onto his lap. "Let's worry about us instead." You say with a small smile while you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him back in to that kiss that was so rudely interrupted.

He hesitates slightly when he places his hands on your hips but then all hesitation and caution are thrown into the air when he pulls you closer to him. You had just finally gotten yourself to calm down when his hands began to slide down you're his to gently clutch you thighs causing you to gasp. "Just relax Lia darling." He says calmly as you just nod your head and bury your face in the crook of his neck in embarrassment.

He gently places a kiss on your neck before bringing his hand up to the zipper on your dress and pulling it down making you suddenly feel self-conscious of your body. You don't know why you do. You have never been self-conscious of your body before especially around Ivelin who tells you how beautiful you are every chance he gets. All you know is that you just are.

He feels you tense up before he tries to remove the dress from your body and just chuckles lightly before pushing you back just far enough to remove his own shirt first. "Better?" He asks as you shake your head and take the little dress off yourself. It was a bit awkward but you managed.

"Like what you see?" You ask rhetorically as you watch him look at your almost naked form. Ivelin may have been a gentleman but he was also a hormonal teenage boy. You giggle quietly when he just clears his throat in response and looks away. "Dummy don't look away." You whisper in his ear while you wrap your arms around his neck once more and pull him closer to you.

"Sorry." He mumbles quietly though you don't know why. But soon he is leaning back on the bed bringing you down with him startling you in the process. You were about to ask why he had done that before he rolled over on top of you pinning your arms to the bed with a wide smirk.

"You sneaky bastard." You giggle as he nips at your neck sending a tingle down your spine. You bite your lip keep quiet when his hands begin to roam your body making you freeze when you feel one of his finger slip under the elastic of your underwear. Also, the last article of clothing that you are wearing besides your garter. This fact absolutely scares you to the point that you think of backing out but you would never be able to do that to Ivelin. So, instead of tensing up like you did last time you relax completely almost letting your grip on your lover slip. Almost.

He removes the offending cloth bringing the garter down with it before trailing small kisses along your jaw line until he reaches your lips and stops. "Laylia darling. If you are uncomfortable with going any further I understand just say so now while I am able to stop myself." He says calmly as he looks for some form of hesitation in your eyes.

"No. I love you Ivelin so I will have no regrets in the decision we have made. Please just don't stop now." You whisper quietly almost as if you did not want to be heard. Though your Aunt had no such shame. The sounds coming from the next room have only proved that. Though you will ignore those and worry about what goes on in your own room.

He looks unsure but continues on even so. Albet even gentler then before. He leans down to capture your lips once more while he caresses your hips. "Ok my love." Is all he says in reply before he leans down and nips at you neck before pushing one of his fingers inside of you. He looks for any sign of discomforts but your moan only encourages him to continue and it isn't long before he has a second finger joining the first.

You don't even bother to stay quiet for the sake of your Aunt anymore. Why should you when you have had so many endless nights wish no sleep because her Aunt has no respect for other people? It takes you a second to realize that his fingers are no longer inside of you which baffles your lust filled mind until you notice that he had just unzip his pants. That sobered you up a bit.

Gosh were you scared. Neither of you had done this before and you both have no clue what it will be like afterwards but at the moment neither of you really cared. Whatever happened, happened and they would deal with it together.

You couldn't help but wince when he started to push in. He may not have been big but it still hurt you like a bitch. He stops about halfway to give you time to adjust and you can see the struggle on his face almost as if he were trying his hardest just to hold back from slamming right in. Now you would have none of that. Your pain meant nothing to you right now.

So you wrap your legs around him and quickly pull him into you the rest of the way causing him to gasp while you just hold him in place. Gosh you don't think that you have ever been in this much pain before but you would deal with it for the one you love.

"Damn it Lia. Why the fuck did you do that?" He ask as slight anger bleed through his voice. He would have scolded you further if it hadn't of been for the pain that was written all over your face. "Fuck. I-I'm sorry Lia I should have stopped you and now your hurt and-" You stop his babbling with a quick kiss while you unwrapped your legs from around his waist.

"Move." You manage to say. But that's all you trusted yourself with saying at the moment. He looked as if he wanted to argue about it but you just smile at him and he gives in.

"If I hurt you tell me so that I can stop." He whispers quietly as he takes one of your hands in his own and places a light kiss on it before he starts a slow pace as not to hurt his little love anymore then he had to.

"I-ivelin." You gasp as he gives a rather hard thrust. You have no clue what he had hit but you wish that he would hit it again. That feeling had put stars. This boy though he was unathletic, scrawny, and two and a half years younger than you are is making your vision go white with pleasure. He was messing with your mind the way he caressed, and kissed you in ways you have never dreamed of. It was intoxicating.

But, like all good things this must come to an end you knew that it was close. "Ivelin please. I can't..." You stop halfway through your sentence as you wrap your arms around his neck and hold back a choked moan. You can feel your muscles clamp down around the boy above you sending him over the edge as well which doesn't much surprise you. You never thought that he would have much stamina but at the moment you didn't care. His weight is added to your own when he falls forward unable to support his own weight anymore.

But, that's ok because you are more than willing to just lay there and hold him; your chest makes a great pillow anyways. Atleast so you're told. "Laylia my love." You hear him mumble tiredly as you run your fingers through his soft, black hair. "I love you." He says quietly before falling asleep from where he was using you as a pillow.

"I love you to Ivelin." You say with a light smile before placing a kiss on his forehead and joining him in the land of dreams. You didn't want to imagine what your Aunt would find when she comes in to bother you about something but you also really didn't care. Because right now you were with the one person that truly mattered to you. Your younger lover Mr. Dennet.


	3. Chapter 3

Laylia sighed in annoyance as she watched the boarding line slowly move forward. She and her mother were going home after spending her seventeenth birthday in China visiting family. "Mom! I told you that we should have come earlier! Now it's going to take forever to board the plane!" She complained rather loudly while her mother just laughed at her daughter.

"Be patient sweetie. We will get on the plane shortly so what's the rush? Are you to embarrassed to be seen with your mommy?" Her mother asked as she pinched her daughter's cheek. Laylia swore that her mother did this just to annoy her. But, it never worked so she didn't take it personal.

"No I'm not embarrassed. But I would like to get on the plane. The sooner we are on the plane the sooner we get home. And, remember what daddy said? He said that he would be home when we got there! He even promised and it had been so long since we last saw him. So the line should just hurry its ass up!" She managed to say before her mother covered her mouth with her hand.

"Laylia Kang Chirag! Watch your language! There are children around." Her mother scolded as the line finally decided to move on and let them board. "I have told you many times that talk like that is for the unintelligent. I don't care if you are angsty because you're excited to see your father." She scolded quietly as she grabbed her daughter's hand as not to lose her precious little girl.

"I'm sorry mom. I'm just so excited! And, on top of that you and dad are finally going to meet Ivelin in just a weeks' time!" Laylia chimed happily as her mother just rolled her eyes with a smile and dragged her onto the plane.

"It's ok love. Just remember that there are children around and that I raised you better than that. What would your father think if he heard you saying such words? He would be ashamed of you that's for sure." Mrs. Chirag said calmly as she sat her daughter by the window when they had found their seats. "Don't forget to turn off your phone before we take off dear. You don't want the radio waves interfering with the plane now do you?" She asked calmly while she dug around in her carry on for her magazine.

"It's off already so chill out. Nothing is going to go wrong." Laylia mumbled as she rolled her eyes at her mother. She listened to the sound of her mother flipping the pages of her magazine while watching the men outside of the plane as they prepared the plane for take-off. There was a man that took the gas hose out of the plane's fueling tank but she didn't question it. That must have been his job. Why else would he have done that? The sound of her mother flipping the pages in the magazine and the sound of other people talking quietly quickly lulled her to sleep as the plane began to take off.

"Laylia wake up." Laylia's mother said urgently as she shook her daughter awake. "God damn it Lia wake the fuck up!" She snapped waking Laylia up out of pure shock.

"Mom what's wrong you never curse?" Laylia asked and no sooner did the words come out of her mouth when the plane shook violently. Something felt off it almost felt as if… "Mom are we going down?" She asked feeling panicky while her mother just took her hand in her own.

"The Captain just said over the intercom that their wasn't a lot of fuel left in the tanks. They are going to try and land before we crash. It's ok dear. You're going to be ok." Her mother said with a light smile while Laylia just frowned.

"What about you? Are you going to be ok as well?" Laylia asked quietly but Mrs. Chirag just ignored her question. She looked around only to see everyone trying to look out of the windows and freaking out. "Mom we are crashing aren't we?" She asked calmly as she clutched the box she had carried on with her to her chest tightly with her free hand.

"Yes we are." Was the only answer she had gotten from her mother as she looked out the window and went wide eyed in fear. She could see the tops of trees and they were only getting closer by the second. She calmly turned to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Mom I love you." She cried quietly before her mom was pushing her backwards.

"Hold onto that box tightly would you dear?" Her mother asked with a small smile. Feeling confused Laylia hugged it to her chest as tightly as she could while her mother grabbed her face between her hands lightly and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm so sorry Laylia." She mumbled quietly as a few tear drops fell on her daughter's hand.

"Sorry for what mom?" Laylia managed to ask before her mother slammed her head against the window of the plane knocking her out seconds before the plane hit the ground. There was no way Mrs. Chirag was going to make her daughter experience the horrors of dying while conscious.

"I love you to Lia." Mrs. Chirag whispered as she pushed her daughter forward into the seat in front of her and used her body as a shield for her little girl. Not long after a piece of sharp metal had pierced her skull killing her almost instantly.

"M-mom?" Laylia rasped quietly as she slowly opened her eyes to see bright Florissant lights above her. She had no clue where she was but judging by the look on the woman's face right next to her she was probably in the hospital.

"Good you have woken up. I'll have the doctor's come in and check your vitals. Oh and, there is a woman out there to see you. She said that she is your aunt? I'll send her in later when the doctor says that you are cleared for visitors." The kind woman said calmly as she stroked Laylia's face lightly.

"Where is my mother?" Laylia asked groggily as the smile on the woman's face disappeared. The nurse said nothing more before leaving. Tears had begun to form in her eyes while she looked up at the ceiling. Her mother wasn't dead was she? She couldn't be. She just couldn't. She fell asleep once again as tears began to fall from her eyes. She was too tired to deal with the world of the living right now. So, she was going to sleep.

When she awoke she could hear the sound of a magazine's page being turned so she turned towards the noise and gasped when she saw her Aunt. "Auntie… What are you doing here?" She asked quietly startling the woman. She watched her Aunt close the magazine and set it on the floor next to her before looking back up at her Niece.

"Hello sweetie. Are you feeling ok?" Her Aunt asked calmly as she curled her hands around a piece of paper.

"Hey what's that?" Laylia asked curiously as her Aunt just pretended not to hear her. "Well what is it?" She asked again and this time her Aunt just sighed before handing her the slip of paper. She took it curiously before unfolding it and began reading.

Dear Lia,

I am sorry that I could not deliver this letter in person but I just couldn't stand the thought of looking at you when you look so much like your mother. Please do not think badly of me when I say this but I will not be seeing you ever again. I do love you darling. It's just you remind me so much of your mother that it would hurt to be around you and to see her smile on your face while she is no longer alive. Please understand that this is better for the both of us. I have left you in the care of your Aunt Cathy. Happy belated birthday Sweetie.

Sincerely,

Your father Cheng Chirag

Laylia read the letter three more times before the true meaning finally hit her. "He isn't… He isn't coming back?" She asked quietly as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. Her Aunt quick got up and moved over to the bedside before pulling her up into a hug.

"I'm so sorry Lia. I couldn't convince my brother to stay. He had already made up his mind when he gave me the letter. He went back into the Army and is making it his career. And, you had been out for three weeks so he couldn't get you on the phone to say good bye. I'm so sorry baby." Her Aunt whispered while Laylia just sat there and cried for a few minutes. In a matter of three weeks she had lost everything… No she still had her Aunt and Ivelin. She looked over at the little tray beside her bed and noticed her dog ear head band. "Who needs him." She said monotonously while putting on the headband. "Let him live hi own life. He obviously doesn't care about me so why should I care about him?" She asked as her Aunt's phone went off.

"Hello?" Her Aunt said into the phone after she had finally dug it out of her post. "Oh yes she is right here. Lia it's some boy named Ivelin. He was here a few days ago to see you so I gave him my number." She said calmly as she handed the phone over to her Niece.

"Ivelin?" Laylia said quietly as she waited for a response on the other end. It didn't take long.

"_Lia? Is that you? Oh thank god you're ok! You had everyone so worried. Especially me! Elizaa has barely eaten for a week and Aslion is a big blubbering mess. Not even Seveny can get him to stop crying. Then there is Rosiie who hasn't said a word to anyone since she found out. And, none of us can get a hold of Fil… Also I… We all miss you. Hang on I'll be up their shortly. Just let me sneak past my father and I'll have Rosiie take Aslion and myself up there. Just hang on love." _Ivelin said from the other end not even waiting for Laylia's response before hanging up.

"Here… Wake me up when my friends come please. And, can I be alone for a bit?" Laylia asked quietly as she tried to hold back tears. Her Aunt silently agreed as she got up and left her Niece alone for a few minutes.

The second she was alone she just curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep. Her friends had been worried about her. That means that someone cared. Someone cared about her…

Those were the last thoughts that went through her head before she stopped thinking all together and let the darkness consume her.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! So, guys, as you may have guessed, we're doing Humanstuck for a bit! (which kinda sucks for me because my characters are totally divided right now, like seriously guys, make up your mind) But, here's the story of Humanstuck rustblood Lilira Tereah.

**Have fun.**

Five obituaries.

There were now five obituaries stapled to the wall of Lilira Tereah's room. She had them just over her writing desk, where she looked at them every day. She studied them. She knew them by heart.

Two were placed in a position of importance, above the others. They were very simple, practically the same, and the only reason most people had noted them was because of the news event they were associated with. _Crazy Gunman Terrorizes Small Town. _The names were simple, the pictures were simple, and yet they held so much history for the lanky, awkward blonde girl.

She had cut them out of the newspapers carefully, almost perfectly except for a tear on one of the top two, cutting off the beginning of the woman's name. They were methodically placed. Absolutely perfect.

She put down the newspaper she had bought simply for the obituary and looked at her new work, the newest name added to her wall. There was a knock on her bedroom door, and she turned to get it – not three steps away from her desk in the room she'd claimed. "Yes, Grandmother?" she asked, clipping her words as short and perfect as the newspaper excerpts. If she spoke too easily, her accent showed, and that was the only thing she could possibly be ashamed of.

"Dinner is in a few minutes, Lily." The older woman kissed her granddaughter lightly on the forehead. "Be down on time for once, won't you?"

"No promises," Lilira said with a nod, closing her door. "And my name isn't Lily, bitch," she added under her breath once she was sure the old woman was away from the door. She wouldn't be down for dinner on time. She would be too busy remembering.

**Three Years Before;; A Certain Small Town;;**

"Lily, come on, we're going to be late for lunch!" Her mother was teasing her, running in front of her slightly. They'd promised to meet her father for lunch, she remembered – he never had time for lunch, so it was something of a surprise. Lily was pleasantly surprised that her father remembered that he had a family, much less cared about them. But then, he was her daddy.

"Daddy won't care," she said, scoffing as much as a happy twelve-year-old can. She reverted to a smile and asked her mother, as she strolled along peacefully, "Do you think he'll want to play a game tonight?"

"Let's not push our luck." Her mother laughed and slowed down, hugging her close and ruffling her hair. They were both as blonde as white could be, and her father didn't break the circle, but Lily got her hazel eyes from some distant corner of her family. She thought they were a nice change from the boring blue both of her parents sported.

They spotted her father easily as they entered the little square that had all of the nice restaurants. He was the one holding a bunch of flowers – he was always the one holding flowers. Lily nearly shrieked in joy at the sight and ran ahead of her mother to tackle her father in a fierce hug. He laughed and stumbled a little, catching himself before he fell backwards, and pulled one of the flowers out of the bouquet to hand to her.

"A lily for my Lily," he said, only then managing to get out of her tight hug. He smiled at her mother, who had caught up fairly quickly, "and the rest for my love." He held the bouquet out, somewhat sheepishly. "My apologies. I couldn't find a stargazer, dear, and I nearly couldn't manage to get the time off."

"It doesn't matter," Lily said, at the same time as her mother asked, "I thought you notified your boss?"

"I did," he said, throwing his hands up in slight defeat. "But come on, I did get the time, and we're all here now. Right? So let's have lunch." He put his arm around his wife's waist and similarly placed a hand on Lily's shoulder as she stared into the flower she'd been given, guiding the both of them into the restaurant he'd been standing in front of. "It's a pity we couldn't get Violet this time..."

"She had another accident," Lily said with a shrug as she hugged her flower lightly to her chest, following her father to the table he'd reserved. The restaurant was definitely not the nicest in town, something of a knockoff of a tearoom, but it was the best her family had ever gone to. "It's not her fault, Daddy."

"I know, dear." He smiled and sat across from her as she took her seat, then glanced at his wife, who looked apprehensive. "Opal? Are you okay?"

"I... It's nothing, Byron," the woman said, shaking her head. "Just a bad feeling. Let's have lunch," she said, smiling at her husband and her older daughter. Lily frowned down at the table, setting her flower through one of the holes in the tabletop to pick up the menu. She had learnt not to ask stupid questions when her mother got her bad feelings.

Stupid questions like "Is it my fault?" She had asked that of her mother once and been smacked upside the head. As far as she was concerned, that was a positive. Somehow, Lily always managed to bring up Violet... Always the worst memories. She didn't like that; it really wasn't poor Violet's fault that she was always in and out of the hospital for some bad break or another. The younger girl was just weaker in general.

And somehow it was always Lily's fault. She made an act of staring at the menu so fiercely that she didn't see her father subtly nudge her mother with a frown on his face and nod in her direction; she didn't see her mother respond accordingly with a shrug and picking up her own menu.

"Do you know what you want, Lil?" her father asked. She looked up, ready to reply, when someone burst into the restaurant.

The world froze.

Then it shattered.

"No one move!" the man snapped. He held a pistol in either hand, and was looking around at the patrons accusingly. There were very few people in the place, but they all froze solid.

Byron Tereah thawed out quickly. He was not a man who stood for freezing on command. He stood, mouth open, ready to say something – he was always ready to say something, his wife said, and that was why he never got promoted. Before he got the chance, the world exploded in a clap of thunder, and he was left with a bloody cavern in his chest, choking on his own blood.

Lily stared at the gunman with wide eyes, while her mother shrieked and dove forward to catch her husband as he fell, quickly becoming a corpse as he did so. She soon joined him with another clap of thunder, and Lily found herself literally frozen in place as the gunman stepped closer to her, tilting her chin up with one of the guns to look him in the eyes.

He was grinning manically, a grin she would come to know over the next three years, a grin she echoed uncertainly. "Little girl," he said, taunting her, "do you want to make that mistake?"

She didn't shake her head. She didn't say no. She didn't do anything; she was physically incapable of moving at that moment in time.

Something heavy hit her head, and she blacked out.

**Three Days Later;;**

Oh, God. What was that light?

She groaned and opened her eyes only slightly. "Hello?" she asked, her voice a little slurred – she couldn't figure out why she didn't sound normal. "Mom? Daddy?"

"Oh, honey, you're awake!" The voice made her snap into reality; it wasn't one she knew. It didn't even sound like Opal, or her Auntie Pearl, or anyone she could think of. It definitely wasn't Violet. She had no idea where she was or why she was there, and she almost didn't want to know. The last thing she remembered was the sight of those crazy, bloodlust-maddened eyes.

Someone started fussing around her, and she opened her eyes a little more. "The lights," she murmured, struggling to get her voice above a quiet level. The lights switched out some, but most of the illumination lingered in the room. Still, it was much better.

"It's such a lucky thing you've woken up," the woman said, flitting around the room like a hyperactive hummingbird. The girl just shook her head a little, wincing when it ached in response, and glanced at her bedside table. A handful of flowers rested there, assorted. "Your grandmother's been waiting to see you – let me let her in now, she'll be so happy!"

The girl frowned. Her grandmother? She didn't remember a grandmother. She just kept looking at the flowers as the woman left and returned with someone else.

"Lily!" An older woman was smiling, now. Why was she smiling? The girl shook her head again slightly, careful not to move too much. She felt so pinned down to this stupid bed. She knew she was in a hospital; her sister was in the hospital a lot, she thought. Her sister... "I just saw Violet, and I was worried about you, so I wanted to check on you–"

"Who's Lily?" the girl interrupted. "Am I Lily? Because I'm Lilira." She looked up at the woman, who had moved to stand nearer the head of the bed.

"But, Lily..."

"Lilira. I've never been anything else," the girl said casually. She glanced at the single flower the woman – her grandmother – held. A stargazer lily... she smiled slightly, then frowned again. "Daddy?" she asked – and she was horrified at the result her memory yielded.

"Why Mom and Dad?" she asked. She didn't know whether she was addressing the older woman or herself, but the former placed the lily with the rest of the flowers and caressed her gently.

"Your parents were brave people," her grandmother said softly. "Come, Li- Lilira? Is that your name?"

"Yes." Lilira looked at the woman, fighting past the knot forming in her throat to manage the one word. She knew she was about to cry, but God dammit if she was going to cry in front of this woman she couldn't even remember all that well.

"Okay, then. Your name is Lilira, and you can call me Grandma, okay? Me and your Grandpa will be taking care of you and Violet from now on." The older woman smiled graciously. "As soon as you're all better, we'll go to the city, where our house is. For now, it's best to stay in one place, they said, though. You were out for days."

"Okay." She bit her lip. "Can I sleep?" she asked tremulously, closing her eyes and letting an overflow of tears escape. She hadn't meant for that to happen... Lilira really did not want her grandmother to see her cry.

"Of course, darling. I'll leave you now. Good night." The woman leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before backing off. Lilira just stared back up at the ceiling and let herself drift off to sleep.

**One Year Later (And Two Months, And Five Days);; An Out-Of-The-Way Place;;**

"Lira, I'm thirsty." Lilira hugged her notebook to her chest and did her best to ignore the other girl tugging on her sleeve. "Lira? Lira, let's just go in with them..."

"Vi, they'll be back in a minute," the older girl pointed out. "There's no use in going inside with them now, because they'll just snap at us again for being stupid." She leaned her head on her chest, cradling her notebook. She still hadn't figured out why she'd started writing some kind of weird diary before the incident. Surely none of this stuff had ever happened to her – she guessed it was some kind of wishful thinking.

"But, Lira, I'm _thirsty_." The younger girl pouted and tugged harder on her sister's sleeve.

"So am I." Lilira shrugged. "We'll get lunch soon, won't we? I mean, just wait, we'll go to some nice restaurant. We're on vacation, after all."

"I'm thirsty _now._" The older girl rolled her eyes and smiled, patting her sister on the head.

"This is why I'm the older one," she lectured. "I'm smarter, so I know what to do. And I'm going to go talk to Grandma about this, if you're going to keep insisting, okay?"

"Okay." Violet glared at the seat, and Lilira covered a smile as she watched the seven-year-old concentrate. "As long as you don't disappear like Mommy and Daddy did," the little girl said uncomfortably.

"I won't! I promise." Lilira unlocked her door and clambered out, letting the seatbelt snap back to its position, and locked her door again. "Just promise me you'll stay in the car, okay? I don't want anyone hurting you, Vi." She rolled her window up – it rolled manually, at least. Or else it wouldn't work nearly as well...

She turned away, closing her door when the little girl nodded, and loped off towards the storefront her grandmother had disappeared into. It was a little antique store, or some kind of thrift shop, and the woman could spend half an hour just looking at one thing in those. And besides, Vi was thirsty, and so was Lilira, and it was extremely hot in Texas, where they were vacationing.

In fact, the temperatures were at their all time high for a while, then. Over one hundred and ten degrees, she thought she had heard on the morning news, the stuff her grandfather always watched.

There were no security cameras in the parking lot. No one to see her except the storeowners.

She walked into the tiny thrift store and scanned the nearest aisles for her grandmother, then casually combed the rest for signs of the older woman. The woman who worked the counter stopped her and asked, "Looking for something, dear?"

"Yes, have you seen my grandmother?" The woman gave her an odd look, and Lilira automatically corrected herself – she knew it was her accent that was causing the look. It was always her accent. "My grandmother. I'm looking for her," she said shortly.

"Oh, you mean the woman that came in here a while ago... I think she's in the dressing room, sweetie. It's just over there–"

"By the sign that says 'Dressing Room'?" Lilira asked, raising her eyebrows. "Colour me surprised." She brushed past the woman impatiently and made her way to the dressing room – just a little stall with a curtain over the door – and rapped on the little doorframe. No one answered her, so she sat there, tapping her foot.

She wasn't in a rush, in any case.

Maybe half an hour passed before someone chanced upon her, leaning against the wall outside of the dressing room.

"Lily!" her grandmother snapped in surprise. "What are you doing in here?"

"Vi and I got thirsty," she said with a shrug. "I thought I would come in and ask you if you had anything to drink. I think she might really need it," Lilira added. "And my name isn't Lily."

"So you left Vi... In the car?" the woman asked, staring at her elder granddaughter, horrified.

"Where else am I supposed to leave her, in Hell?" the girl returned. She pushed her hair back over her shoulder – it was growing out from her chin-length cut, and she liked it, though it did get in the way.

"Idiot child!" The older woman dropped everything she was holding and sprinted for the door to the shop. "Henry! Violet's in trouble!" she shouted, hardly one to be quieted by the frowning shopkeeper. Grandmother Tereah was just as lively and heated as her – rather _un_living – son.

Lilira rolled her eyes and strolled out, giving the shopkeeper a casual smile as she passed the counter, and watching her grandmother fight with the car door.

Well, of course it wouldn't be opened, she reasoned. After all, her grandmother had left the keys in the car on the driver's seat, and Lilira herself had made sure to lock all of the doors. Not like they could exactly blame her; the neighbourhood wasn't stellar. But her grandmother was screaming now, fumbling with her cell phone and yelling for the shopkeeper, yelling for anyone to come help.

She might have been standing there for hours, smiling, out of touch with reality – she didn't react when people came running, when someone busted the car window and unlocked the door to drag a barely-breathing Vi out, when the sirens started wailing and flashing lights filled her vision. She didn't react until her grandmother grabbed her roughly by the arm and shoved her towards the ambulance.

"Come on, you little idiot shit. Your sister has to go to the hospital, thanks to you." Lilira mustered up her best innocent look, wide eyes and all.

It took Violet three days to die.

Three days seemed to be her magic number.

She attended her sister's funeral in the same dress she'd worn to their parents' memorial service. It wasn't too much trouble. She hadn't grown an inch in over a year.

She didn't get why everyone was crying. Vi was in a better place than the Hell her older sister deal with that, was for sure.

**Another Year (Minus Twenty-Two Days) Later;; The Kitchen;;**

"Lily! Catch the water!" Lilira dove for the towel she'd been keeping on hand and laid it across the threshold of the kitchen that led into the living room. The sink was overflowing again – she and her grandmother had been fighting with it for a few days now. She didn't even bother correcting the name mishap; she just wanted the sink to stop acting up. She needed that for when she decided to cook, which admittedly wasn't very often.

"Is everything going well?" her grandfather asked. He paced into the kitchen with the air of a man who is about to trip, fall, split his head open, and die with his blood intermingling with city water.

Another funeral.

A different dress.

**And Yet Another Year (Plus Five Weeks) Later;; At Home;;**

The soft glow of a laptop screen shone on the fifteen-year-old's face as she stared at her chat client, waiting for one person in particular to come online. She had just recently – a couple of weeks before – broken up with her first serious boyfriend, and he was bound to come back to her, begging on hands and knees, considering the girl he had started hooking up with.

A chat screen popped up. Not who she was looking for; she shrunk it down, watching the corner of her screen for the notification that would tell her what she needed to know.

There! _resilientAtomizer is online._ Lilira grinned. And he said her chat client was useless.

She double-clicked on the name and paused when the window popped up before typing.

- neuroticGoddess [NG] started pestering resilientAtomizer [RA] –

NG: Hey.

NG: What's up with all this cagey bullshit?

RA: is that a hint of jealousy i smell?

NG: Hell no. I just want to know what's with the cagey BS.

RA: well if you must know then i would very much like for you to come out with me tonight.

RA: to a movie.

RA: the two of us.

NG: Shut the fuck up.

RA: ouch, pissed enough to drop the idiot dollar signs.

NG: It's not a dollar sign, it's a lira sign, like you'd know if you paid attention in class.

NG: Lira as in my name, Lilira?

RA: whatever, it's a dollar sign either way

RA: like a spanish dollar sign or some shit

NG: Italian, actually.

NG: But that's beside the point.

NG: I would love to go out with you, to a movie, the two of us, just don't fucking elaborate on it like that.

NG: You make it sound like it's some sort of secret plot my grandmother shouldn't know about.

RA: but isn't it kinda? ;)

RA: and you're so kind to drop that lire sign or whatever

RA: thank you

NG: Don't think you're special.

NG: I just like you, okay? We went over this. I'll tolerate your requests.

NG: as long as they involve clothing not being removed.

RA: but

NG: No buts.

NG: Dumbass. You could just ask Perse to strip and she would do it in the middle of school.

RA: true

RA: so i'll drive over to your place and pick you up, okay?

RA: i'm already in my driveway, thank god for irc phones

NG: Sounds good to me.

NG: See you then.

- neuroticGoddess [NG] ceased pestering resilientAtomizer [RA] –

She bit her lip and looked at the other window that had been pulled up by the other girl. Well, if she was willing to play a part in this complex plan, Lilira was happy to let her have it.

- deviantRescuer [DR] started pestering neuroticGoddess [NG] –

DR: Hey, Tereah?

DR: Tereah?

DR: Lilira, answer me!

NG: Yes?

DR: Finally!

NG: It's been ₤ive minutes.

DR: Oh, shut up!

DR: And stop using that stupid thing for an F!

NG: I say no.

NG: What is it?

DR: I was wondering if you'd spoken to Max lately!

NG: I just ₤inished chatting with him.

NG: Why?

DR: Did he say anything about me?

NG: No, he just asked i₤ I wanted to go out tonight.

NG: You should bug him about that, you know.

NG: You are his current girl₤riend, a₤ter all.

DR: Damn right I am!

DR: And I will!

DR: Thank you, Lira 3

NG: No problem.

- deviantRescuer [DR] ceased pestering neuroticGoddess [NG] –

She closed her laptop and retreated to her bed.

It should all work out in her favour.

It always did.

She needed a new dress for the funeral.

Everyone she loved was dead. This was a good start.


End file.
